Hypotonic Stress Induces Fast, Reversible Degradation of the Vimentin Cytoskeleton via Intracellular Calcium Release

Advanced Science

Rui Yan¹  Wan Li¹  Manni He¹  Ke Xu¹  Ping Zhang²  Jingjun Xu²  Fen Hu²  Leiting Pan² 

[1] Department of Chemistry University of California Berkeley CA 94720 USA;The Key Laboratory of Weak‐Light Nonlinear Photonics Ministry of Education School of Physics and TEDA Institute of Applied Physics Nankai University Tianjin 300071 China;

关键词: calpains;    cytoskeletal ultrastructure;    hypotonic stress;    intracellular calcium release;    super‐resolution microscopy;    vimentin intermediate filaments;   

DOI  :  10.1002/advs.201900865

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Abstract The dynamic response of the cell to osmotic changes is critical to its physiology and is widely exploited for cell manipulation. Here, using three‐dimensional stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy (3D‐STORM), a super‐resolution technique, the hypotonic stress‐induced ultrastructural changes of the cytoskeleton of a common fibroblast cell type are examined. Unexpectedly, these efforts lead to the discovery of a fast, yet reversible dissolution of the vimentin intermediate filament system that precedes ultrastructural changes of the supposedly more dynamic actin and tubulin cytoskeletal systems as well as changes in cell morphology. In combination with calcium imaging and biochemical analysis, it is shown that the vimentin‐specific fast cytoskeletal degradation under hypotonic stress is due to proteolysis by the calcium‐dependent protease calpain. The process is found to be activated by the hypotonic stress‐induced calcium release from intracellular stores, and is therefore efficiently suppressed by inhibiting any part of the IP3‐Ca2+‐calpain pathway established in this study. Together, these findings highlight an unexpected, fast degradation mechanism for the vimentin cytoskeleton in response to external stimuli, and point to the significant, yet previously overlooked physiological impacts of hypotonic stress‐induced intracellular calcium release on cell ultrastructure and function.

【 授权许可】

Unknown